Tuesday, April 27, 2010

plastic insurance policies

This weekend I was outside in a tank top heaving a hoe into the sod and have sunburn on my back to prove it. Tonight they are calling for up to three inches of snow. I hate April.

I spent the bulk of sunlight after work pulling plastic sheeting over the young beds and weighing it down with rocks. This freak storm may bring snow, but it won't re-freeze the soft ground. Not when it was 76 Sunday and they want it 67 again on Friday. It will be a fluke. Long live plastic insurance policies.

All that said. I'm waiting till the weekend to put my potatoes in.

I'm all moved in now, and the boxes are waiting to be unpacked. Right now the animals come before personal move-in indulgences like hanging up clothes. Housing, fences, feeding and new night rounds are being learned. But hell, I did buy a can of paint for the kitchen, and got one wall painted already. I did it late last night while it rained. I had to use all my self-preservation skills to not blue-tape up another wall tonight. But I didn't pack away dinner till nearly 9, and I do need some sleep before my 4:45 wake up call. Painting will have to wait till the weekend.

You'll have to forgive my scattered writing. Right now all the change, the new farm, and the projects involved have me reeling. The sheep still need to be shorn (though they will appreciate their late-spring coats if we do get those three inches tonight) and the meat birds need their chicken tractor. The new puppy arrives within a week or so and I haven't even bought a bag of puppy chow yet. It will all come together: the shaved sheep, the new addition, the snowy salad greens—but tonight I find myself feeling a little overwhelmed. A positive satiating, but drowning none the less. It'll be okay. In fact, it will be amazing. But these first few days have been exhausting. July has never looked better.

It's all overwhelming isn't it! I am still frazzled and we have been here four years. At least you are young and your body doesn't hurt when you do all the physical work. Savor it all you can. I am approaching 60 and this is killing us. A good hurt though!

You funny girl, no apologies...whatever updates you give us are nourishment for those of us still living vicariously through you and on the farms in our heads. And it makes me more grateful I live in the south, where it may get boring and sweaty way early down here, but I sure don't have to worry about my flowering pepper plant catching frost. Hang in there, sweetie!

`Harry, there’s two kinds of tired. There’s good tired and there’s bad-tired. Ironically enough, bad-tired can be a day in which you won, but you won other people’s battles, you lived other people’s days, other people’s agendas and dreams, and when it’s all over, there’s very little you in there, and when you hit the hay at night, you toss and turn, you don’t settle easy.

Good tired, ironically enough, can be a day in which you lost, but you knew you fought your battles, you chased your dreams, you lived your days. And when you hit the hay at night, you settle easy, you sleep the sleep of the just, and you can say, “Take me away.”

That sounds like where you are. Except the 'take you away' part that is.

I' so excited for you! New beginning are fun and scary all at once! You are painting and nesting. I painted my bedroom on Monday - twice because I didn't like the first color, but it feels so good to just look at it now....good enough I'm thinking of more places to paint and projects to do!! Let's see, there's that bathroom, and then the hallway, and the entry has gotten dinged up quite a bit and I do love that color - BRICK PATH- when it is fresh...the excitement of projects is a contagious thing!! and can't wait to get my seedlings in, but the cold is keeping me inside, but I haven't run out of stuff to do yet...you never do run out of stuff, do you?? Enjoy the new nest!!

Ah... April. Such a tease. That girl never goes home with you, does she?April is gut wrenching in Alaska. Some days are in the 50s and 60s. Next thing you know, a 20 degree day out of nowhere. Every experienced gardener here will tell you not to trust the weather until the first full moon in JUNE. Nothing goes in the ground until then. Our Farmers Market doesn't even open until the last week in May.Only baby chicks and the Hen Channel of Farm TV hold us over in April. Well, that and the fact that warm days mean you can (sometimes) move things that froze tithe ground when it was 50 below zero over the winter!

Snowing here in Colorado also. We use folklore for our planting and always put potatoes in when the first dandelion blooms. Your paint isn't the only can you bought, sounds like you bought a can of worms and opened um right up!) That's o.k. Because greenhorns love worms!) Mmm, mmm, mmm.

JENNA, HOW MANY WAYS CAN YOU SPELL EXHAUSTION? YOU WILL GET THERE, & WE'LL BE THERE IN SPIRIT WITH YOU!!! WE ALL KNOW THE BRAND NEW COLDANTLER FARM WILL NOT BE GOOD BUT GREAT!!! CHEERS WITH A HEALTH DRINK!!!

I used to love April when I lived in Florida- it was the ONLY nice month in the year, where you could comfortably eat all your meals outside.

Now that I'm gardening in the PNW, I'm not so crazy about it. Not four days after getting peppers and cukes into the ground that I raised from seed in the garage, did it hail like hell all over everything and shred it. I'm ordering Agribon this weekend...

I liked the good tired/bad tired story, and believe that you were good tired. Moving and getting your life started over in a new place is always exhausting, and always a good tired.

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About Me

The blog of author Jenna Woginrich of Cold Antler Farm. Jenna is a 33-year old full time writer. She writes about her adventures following her dream life as a homesteader, archer, falconer, equestrian, hunter, spinner, and low-rent cook. Follow along, it never gets boring!